Too easy to target scapegoats

By Graeme PhilipsonOctober 1 2002
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In recent months I have written at length about the myth of the IT skills shortage.
There has been a fair bit of debate in this newspaper and others, and in various
industry forums, the upshot of which has been an admission on most people's
part that there is no longer a shortage.

This admission is grudging, to say the least. The government, whose voice was
loudest in proclaiming the shortage because it wanted to be seen to be doing
something about it, is strangely silent on the matter. The executive director
of the Australian Information Industry Association, Rob Durie, says there was
a shortage but that the recent downturn has alleviated the problem.

There are many voices still saying that downturn or not, and skills shortage
or not, we should still train new people in IT, and import skills where necessary,
because IT will need these skills when the good times return. This view is best
expressed by Fujitsu chairman Neville Roach, a long-time adviser to the government.

Roach agrees the shortage was exaggerated but believes Australia still needs
to attract skilled IT practitioners as the industry restructures. His comments
aroused quite a bit of hostility, indicating the degree to which the IT skills
debate has been infected by xenophobia.

I have now received more than 300 e-mails on this subject, virtually all of
them from IT professionals who are having difficulty finding work. Their criticisms
are many: ineffectual government policies, poorly qualified personnel agencies,
ageism and sexism, ridiculously limited job specifications. But the most common
criticism has been that jobs are going to cheap foreign workers, particularly
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The issue came to higher prominence recently after it was revealed that Indian
software company Infosys plans to man its new Melbourne development centre largely
with expatriate Indians. Initially touted by Victorian ICT Minister Marsha Thomson
as a big win for Australia, it has turned out to be anything but. Add to that
the news that IBM Global Services is expanding operations in India while cutting
in Australia, and the fact that National Australia Bank has awarded a software
contract to Indian company Satyam, and you see why people are worried.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government is still encouraging employers to import
IT staff under the 457 temporary-visa program.

Unlike most countries, Australia does not require companies employing foreign
staff to prove they were unable to find a suitable local candidate. Parallels
are drawn with America's notorious H1-B visa system, which has been widely abused
as a means of employing lower-cost IT staff, again largely from India.

Is this a good or bad thing? It depends on who you are. If you are an unemployed
Australian or American programmer, it is a bad thing. If you are an unemployed
Indian programmer, it is a good thing.

The Indian software industry is booming. According to India's National Association
of Software and Services Companies, it grew by 29 per cent last year. Export
revenues account for more than 75 per cent of the total Indian market, which
now employs more than half a million IT professionals. Have a look at nasscom.org
to see what the Indians are doing.

It is easy to point to the success of Indian software companies and draw parallels
with high unemployment in the Australian IT industry. It is easy to argue that
Indians are "taking Australian jobs", and point to specific examples. But it
is not that simple.

The debate over immigration is related to that over globalisation. Opponents
of both mistakenly believe the world economy to be a zero-sum game, where the
number of losers matches the number of winners. Time and again, this has been
shown untrue - the free movement of capital and labour around the world ultimately
benefits everyone.

To my mind that is self-evident. But it can be a hard case to argue in the
face of entrenched stupidity, most particularly from governments whose policies
distort the natural order of things.

Most countries maintain monstrous subsidies, tariffs and restrictions. The
Australian Government's immigration and IT investment policies are one example.

Policies that allow short-term immigration in specific industries, such as
IT, are an open invitation to abuse. Little wonder that an anti-Indian element
has come into the debate.

The government's policies are actively fomenting racism in an industry where
it has been, thankfully, almost totally absent.

It is only natural that India, with its massive software infrastructure, vast
population and lower wage structure, will become a software powerhouse. We can
hardly blame the Indians for promoting themselves as such, and the Indian Government
for making it easy for them to do so.

You would think the Australian Government would do the same.

Instead it is actively pursuing policies that encourage Australian companies
to export jobs to India. It's a funny old world.